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Friday, 31 May 2013

Review: Homemaker - Issue 6

Sooooooo, two apologies:

First off because today's post is soooooo very late. 'Twas a late night yesterday as I was at my friend's wedding, so it didn't get written then, as it usually would, and today I had an appointment at the doctor's first thing. Two hours later, I finally got home. I only went for some blood test results!

Secondly, I should have reviewed this magazine a couple of weeks ago, or at least on Tuesday when I finally tracked down a copy. I really need to get that subscription sorted.

Anyway, without further ado, shall we proceed . . . . .

This issue comes with a free birdy hook set, which I have given to my darling husband to keep him entertained. It doesn't seem to be working though - he is still addicted to Battle Pirates on facebook. In fact, he's probably been playing on that since we got home. Oh, well, at least it keeps him quiet. Anyway, should he need them, the instructions for the hook are about half way through the magazine.

This issue is all about Summer, and one of the first projects jazzes up your garden ready for those BBQs and summer parties. There is some pretty cotton napkins and vintage-style bunting. I adore the idea of putting fresh flowers in vintage green bottles and hanging them with string. Now, if I only had a garden . . . . What I can make use of though is the gorgeous papercut invite and the rhubarb and ginger cheesecake. I just so happen to have been given a load of rhubarb from my sister's garden. Unfortunately, hubby doesn't like rhubarb, so I will just have to eat it all myself. Shame!

There are loads of other recipes this issue, including Eric Lanlard's iced berried with white chocolate sauce (yummy - and the berries and chocolate don't sound too bad either)and Neil Berry's chocolate and cognac cake. Gwyneth Paltrow also shares her sweet potato and five spice muffins (altogether now - I am not just one spice, I am fiiive spice. I am better than all you other spices) and a banana no-ice-cream ice-cream, which is perfect for me as I now have to avoid ice-cream where I can due to a hereditary cholesterol problem meaning I have to reduce my cholesterol intake as much as possible. Finally, there is a delicious-sounding recipe for Snickerdoodles.

Clocks are the order if the day as you get further into the magazine - from how to buy and care for the vintage ones to making your own from a dinner plate. Now, if only I would be allowed to be let loose with a drill . . . I adore this project and it would certainly bring a pop of colour into anyone's home.Having been on the hunt for a suitable kitchen clock since I moved into my house over 18 months ago, I might have to go this way.

I adore the 'tired feet' refurbished church kneeler. Now, I either need to find a suitable ready-for-refurbishing church kneeler (where do I get one of those), or speak very nicely to my daddy to make me the base. Something like this would be perfect for short me, whose feet don't always reach the floor when sat on a chair or sofa!

Not that I would get away with something like this in my rented house, but I think I am slightly in love with the painted staircase in Decorator's Diary. The spice-trail colours are even getting me all excited for my holiday to Tunisia later in the year.

I enjoyed reading the feature in beekeeping and the DIY bee hotel. I have nowhere to keep bees, but I luuuurve honey. My big sister however, should definitely have bee hotel in her garden. I think it is amazing.

Other projects and features include:

Wayne Hemingway discusses how science and design could work together

5 ways with sheet music has some lovely decorative ideas for music lovers

An interview with RICE owner, Charlotte Hedeman Gueniau all about 'colouring people happy'

make a colour pop storage unit

Meet the Maker meets Gisela Graham

make a roman blind

painting your curtains (???) not sure about this one

bright canvases

Helen Murphy explains why we love kitchens. In all honesty, I am ahead of trend here - I have always congregated in the kitchen and it is one of the most important rooms in a house to me

About Me

Hello, my name is Holly and I live in Yorkshire, UK, where it generally rains and does not much else, but that gives me plenty of time to sit indoors and craft. I have been making cards for about a year now and I soon moved onto sewing and trying other crafts too.

It started as something to keep me occupied while the hubby (or fiance as he was at the time) watched football (soccer to anyone in the US) and it became a bit of an obsession, so much so that my spare room is now my sewing studio and I no longer have to sit at the kitchen table.

My other hobbies include tap dancing, following MotoGP and reading. I am also studying with the Open University for my history degree and am in my final year.

I sometimes wonder how I find time to do all this, and see my friends, as by day I work for a solicitors' firm in Leeds.

You can contact me using the contact form below or at fairy[dash]elephants[at]